Exercise Psychology and what not ...

Haven't updated this blog as much as I would like so I am going to include a couple of different things here.  First - a little about what is going on with me.  I have entered a new phase of my training.  For the past 6 weeks or so I was doing a high intensity training regimen.  Basically, as I mentioned in a previous entry, this was a way for me to do one to two workouts and cover my whole body.  Also, the weights were much heavier and the sets and reps were much lower.  Less overall numbers but increased intensity.  The idea is that you get the most out of each set so you don't have to go back and do set after set with lots of reps.  Well, it worked well for me and I definitely got STRONGER.  I also think my body responded quite well.  For those of you who I haven't given my spiel ... basically my body is not genetically prone to gaining a great deal of muscle and my long skinny-ish frame has taken years to add shape and muscle size to.  So this was worth a shot.  I felt like I maintained and maybe even gained some muscle through this past 6 weeks.  Like an idiot I did not record my initial measurements to compare against.  Anyway, one other thing I did a lot of this past 6 weeks was write out all of my workouts.  In 16+ years of working out - I have never done this.  But I think now I won't ever stop.  It truly is an incredible way to document and remind yourself of what you have done and where you came from, so to speak.  I almost got excited writing out each of my workouts - which actually didn't vary too much as they were "one or the other" - but there was still something exciting about sitting down with my pre-workout drink and mapping out what I was about to do.   I WILL definitely continue to write out my workouts and would suggest that to anyone who is struggling with issues of consistency or motivation.  Anyway, now I am moving on to a higher rep - higher volume routine to hit more of my body parts more effectively.   I still am going to continue on with the 2 day split routine because I find that really "works" for me.  This routine is more reps, sets, and exercises per body part and a faster paced workout with super-sets and all that.  The idea is that hopefully it will lean me out and continue to shape the muscle that I have built.  Of course, I have to make sure the cardio and the diet are in check in order to make it all work together.

Okay - enough about me.  So the title of this blog is Exercise Psychology.  What prompted this was a lot of the conversations I have been having with people.  The more I think about it and talk with others about it ... the more I realize what a huge variable psychology is in all of this.  No matter if you have all the experience, tools, background knowledge, and resources .... if you don't have the right "psychology" - it can sort of kill you.  Why else would anyone who has spent hours of time and money on diet stuff, gym memberships, trainers, and even personal research, still struggle with their goals.  It is all the mental aspect of it.  And it is more than just motivation and drive.  I know plenty of folks that have both but still lose the battle day after day.  

I am not a psychologist, but if I was, I would open a practice dedicated to "exercise psychology".  My background in education and psychology related fields has given me plenty of perspective though.  It seems pretty apparent that behind every behavior or lack there of one - there is a significant mental factor playing a role.  But it seems that we pay the least amount of attention to those things.  Like when someone is putting a food item in their mouth that they KNOW is not on their plan and defies all logic when it comes to what they would like to achieve ... why do they still throw it on in?  Or when a person comes to the gym day after day and is very regimented in there routine, why are they able to continue on with such discipline?  There is so much going on in these different situations that impact our choices and motivation.  I guess I encourage myself and others to continue to explore these issues with themselves or others further and see what role psychology plays in our own successes and failures.

Andy